Page 81 of Broken Oath

Fathom stared at the envelope.

Rook didn’t move.

“Why did you believe it?” he asked.

“I didn’t.”

Reef’s voice roughened.

“Not at first.”

His gaze moved from Rook to Sniper and then Fathom.

“I attended six funerals. I watched Tex’s daughter accept his flag. I stood beside Viking’s mother while she waited for someone to explain why her son’s body came home without the men who had led him onto that mountain.”

The words hit Rook like blows.

Reef continued.

“I didn’t believe it until I started checking.”

“Checking what?”

“The casualty report.”

Fathom moved closer.

“What did you find?”

“Your names were entered as presumed killed before the recovery team completed its search.”

Rook’s grip tightened around his pistol.

Fathom had found evidence of the same thing.

“The order came from Sheffield,” Reef said. “But the authorization code was routed through Walter Graves’s office.”

The three letters on Fathom’s screen suddenly carried more weight.

WGS.

Walter Graves.

“What else?” Rook asked.

“The official report claims weather forced the recovery team off the mountain for thirty-six hours.”

Reef reached into the envelope and removed a photograph.

“That isn’t true.”

Rook took it.

The image showed a military helicopter sitting at a forward operating base beneath a clear morning sky.

A date and time appeared in the lower corner.

“The weather was clear,” Reef said. “The recovery team was ordered to stand down.”